Warmth
by kakashifan9
Summary: Shouta's fateful friendship with Hizashi. The two meet during elementary school and become lifelong friends.
1. Chapter 1

Shouta was the type of child who never put much effort into interacting with other people. He was the kid you would either find napping in the corner of the classroom on a sunny day or nodding off while holding a textbook to his face. His teachers would always try to encourage him to play with the other second graders, but Shouta's quiet nature deterred most of his classmates from including him into their play groups.

The most attention Shouta ever received was from a group of boys who made it their job to bully and patronize him. It had started when one of them had been obnoxiously boasting about his quirk, apparently possessing the ability to remove oxygen from the air within a five foot radius.

"I can suffocate any villain who tries to attack me so no one can even come close to touching me!" he yelled as his two other friends cheered him on.

His quirk was far from perfect, Shouta thought. Air Boy had to be in extremely close proximity with someone else before he could activate his power and even then his opponent would still have a chance to counterattack. No one instantly passes out from lack of oxygen, stupid.

Shouta realized he had unknowingly made some sort of derisive snort when Air Boy glared at him. Or maybe he had said that last part out loud. Frankly it took too much effort to remember so he decided to yawn instead.

"You have a problem with my quirk, Aizawa?" he had growled.

Deciding that he would rather try to nap than speak to his classmate, Shouta shrugged and laid his head back down onto his desk.

"Don't you fucking dare ignore me!" Air Boy yelled. Shouta noted the heavy stomps echoing towards his desk. He heard Air Boy inhaling sharply, undoubtedly about to activate his quirk. As the oxygen dissipated from around him, Shouta twitched and in turn activated his own quirk. His red eyes flared as he erased his classmate's power.

"Wha—," Shouta inwardly smiled as he watched Air Boy take a step back from him. The entire class was watching now, hushed whispers flowing through the room. This was the first time any of them had ever seen Shouta's quirk in action.

When Air Boy made no sign of moving any closer to him, Shouta deactivated his quirk and laid his head back down onto his desk.

"I'm trying to sleep. Don't bother me," he mumbled. He heard a few chuckles in the room along with someone faintly whistling in the background. Air Boy and his gang were seething at Shouta's nonchalance and were about to simultaneously activate their quirks until a loud voice blasted through the room.

Shouta lazily lifted his head to see his blond haired classmate insisting that the group should mind their own business. Shouta couldn't remember the kid's name for the life of him, but he had labeled him as the "goody two-shoes" of the class, the good-natured classmate who also turned obnoxiously loud whenever he let his emotions get the best of him.

Shouta silently thanked him for his interference, nodding off within a matter of seconds much to the annoyance of Air Boy.

Ever since then, Air Boy and his friends made it their mission to irritate Shouta. It started with simple, minor details like knocking over his textbooks when they passed by his desk or throwing dusty chalkboard erasers at his head during classroom clean-ups. Their pranks soon became less subtle; they would hide his indoor shoes after he came back from P.E. or dump glue onto his desktop while laughing hysterically as if they were the entire school's best comedic trio.

It would be a lie to say that Shouta didn't care, but he was adamant on appearing apathetic. He refused to stoop to their level.

On some occasions when he found his desk smeared with glue, he would also find wet towels sitting conveniently inside his desk. Sometimes he'd even find his missing shoes in his locker at the end of the day. Whenever this happened, Shouta would do a quick scan of the perimeters, trying to find the culprit responsible for these miracles. He would always see the blond loud kid turn away before their eyes could meet.

* * *

When classes were dismissed, he would always walk to the same playground, sit on a green bench he had claimed as his own and watch the other kids play games that exhibited their quirks. On other days Shouta would use his backpack as a pillow, sprawl out on the bench (granted he was so small that he didn't even take up half of it) and nap until the sky turned red.

One day as he watched a group of kids chase each other down the slides, he heard rustling and hissing in a bush behind him. A raccoon was harassing a small, black kitten, probably no more than a month old. The raccoon was emitting small sparks from its body, shocking the kitten that had the unfortunate luck of wandering into its territory.

Not one to stand for the strong picking on the weak, Shouta glared at the raccoon whose nose twitched as it realized that electricity was no longer flying off its fur. As Shouta's red eyes picked apart its quirk, the raccoon gave an audible squeak and took one last look at the small kitten before dashing off into another bush.

"And don't come back…" Shouta muttered as his hair flowed back down to his shoulders. As he turned to face the black kitten, he found it now hiding under the green bench he sat on every day. Its black ears were pressed flat against its skull, trembling and meowing softly at its rescuer.

Shouta let out a huff and decided that he would be better off not sitting back on the bench, afraid that he might terrify the kitten even further. So he sat down on a patch of grass, folded his legs and pulled his backpack to his chest and stared at the black cat through half lidded eyes. He figured he would claim his spot back on the bench after the kitten was done cowering under it.

After half an hour, the cat still hadn't left its spot. Instead it chose to paw at a weed that protruded from the cement floor. Shouta frowned. He really wanted to sit back down on **his** green bench since the grass he was currently sitting on was a bit too rough against his shorts. Despite himself, he also didn't want to scare off the kitten.

So he dug through his backpack and pulled out a small bag of crackers he had been saving. He tentatively munched on one to show that he had food and sure enough the kitten blinked and curiously meowed in his direction. Shouta slowly littered a few crackers on the ground, backed away and gently clicked his tongue, hoping to entice the kitten out of its hiding spot.

The small little fluff of fur waited a few minutes before crawling slowly towards the saltine crackers. It curiously sniffed at the food before taking a small mouthful, crumbs sticking to its whiskers as it awkwardly crunched on the crackers.

This was Shouta's chance. He could carefully make his way back to his spot on the bench and probably nap for another hour before his curfew. But somehow Shouta found that he couldn't take his eyes off of the tiny cat that was currently trying to lick crumbs off of its paws. Humming quietly, Shouta took out a few more crackers and offered them to the still hungry cat. He watched its pink nose twitch four times before it gathered its courage and carefully made its way towards his hand.

The kitten clumsily grabbed a few crackers and hopped a few steps back before munching on the food. It did this a couple of times before it settled on eating right out of the palm of Shouta's hand, meowing softly as it gobbled on the last of the crackers.

"Sorry, that's all I have right now," Shouta sighed as the kitten stared at him with black, expecting eyes. He gently scratched behind the kitten's ears, smiling as it rubbed back against his hand. "I'll see you tomorrow if you're still here, okay?"

The cat purred in response.

"Okay, bye then," Shouta mumbled as he dusted grass off of his shorts. As he made his way out of the park, Shouta glanced back and found the black fluff ball sitting under his green bench again. He figured he had to share his personal playground spot from now on.

* * *

Shouta borrowed a book on cats from the library and sometimes read it during lunch breaks instead of napping, which was a pleasant surprise for his teachers. Sometimes he would even doodle cat faces on the corner of his notebook. After a week, Shouta began to brainstorm on what to call his new cat friend. He eventually settled on the name "Oreo" when the loud blond kid had offered him one after Air Boy and his gang knocked over his juice pouch, spilling it all over his animal crackers. (Shouta noted that he really needed to learn his name after taking the cookie from his classmate who fidgeted when his eyes lingered on his smiling face.)

He would rush down to the park the moment class was dismissed and find Oreo waiting for him under his green bench. It became an unspoken routine for him to share whatever leftover snacks he had in his bag. On some occasions Shouta would even buy a small can of tuna spread from the convenience store as an apology gift when he couldn't come down to the park on rainy days.

Shouta didn't actually sit on his green bench as much anymore, choosing to linger in the bushes with the cat so that other kids wouldn't see him. He'd bring a small blanket to sit on to avoid getting grass on his pants, which in all honesty wasn't very helpful since Oreo seemed to enjoy brushing up against him after rolling around in freshly mowed lawns.

Between Shouta and Oreo, Oreo was the more talkative one, purring and meowing whenever Shouta stroked him in the right place or when Shouta let him sleep on his warm lap. The silence was comforting compared to what he had to deal with at school.

On one particular day the group of bullies had thrown sand into Shouta's face during P.E., reducing him to a sputtering mess, tearing up as the sand irritated his eyes. "You've got such a useless quirk, Aizawa! Erasure? That's so stupid; you may as well be a normal human!" Air Boy had snickered.

Shouta had tackled him to the ground at that point, but the fight was quickly broken up when a teacher came and pulled them apart. They had both received a thorough scolding.

So with no other way to deal with this injustice, Shouta hid in the shade of a tree at the playground, pulled his knees close to his chest and silently fumed. Oreo rubbed against his legs, offering him little trinkets he had found when he wandered away from the park. Shouta huffed in gratitude and pulled the black cat into a loose hug.

"People are stupid," Shouta vaguely complained as Oreo tilted its head to the side, large black eyes seemingly asking if he really thought that.

"Okay, _most_ people are stupid," Shouta mumbled, absentmindedly scratching behind the cat's ears as he suddenly recognized a far too familiar loud laugh near the swing set. He figured it wasn't fair to categorize the nice blond kid with those jerks. Oh, he meant Yamada. Yamada Hizashi. It wasn't fair to group Yamada with those jerks.

Just as Oreo was about to fall asleep on Shouta's lap, Air Boy and his gang rustled through the bushes, perking up when they spotted Aizawa. The world really hated him today.

"So this is where you run off to after school," Air Boy smirked, watching Shouta scoot a ball of black fur behind his back. "What's that over there? Your only friend, some stray cat?"

Shouta nudged Oreo away with the back of his shoe, sighing in relief when he saw it quickly scamper up a nearby tree. Turning around to face his classmates, Shouta's eyes flickered red, frowning at the intrusion.

"You better be careful outside of school grounds," Shouta muttered, his voice calm and low. "There aren't any teachers around."

"Th-that's my line!" Air Boy stammered, flinching from the flash of crimson. Not only is he stupid, but he's also a coward Shouta thought.

Shouta swung his backpack on his shoulder and brushed past his befuddled classmates. He was tempted to punch them in the face for shortening his day at the park, but figured that it would be a waste of energy and time.

As he left the playground, he faintly remembered seeing Hizashi glancing between him and the cat in the tree. If he said something, Shouta didn't catch it. He spent the rest of the day throwing rocks into the river side.

* * *

The next day Shouta arrived at the playground thirty minutes later than his usual time. The weather was hot enough that he wanted to stop by the grocery store and buy a chilled juice pouch and some bits of frozen tuna for Oreo. He lingered in the juice aisle longer than he was willing to admit.

As he headed over to his new spot in the bushes, he heard snickering and a small meow. He felt his heart drop, abandoning the plastic bag he was holding near the slides.

With blood boiling and burning red eyes, Shouta found the group of bullies hovering over Oreo, Air Boy suffocating the poor cat with his quirk. When he spotted Aizawa, his lips twitched into an ugly grin. "Look guys, the 'hero' has arrived to save his friend," he snorted, flicking Oreo in the forehead much to Shouta's annoyance.

Shouta doesn't remember much of the fight that broke out between him and the three other boys. He recalled tossing Air Boy into one of his friends and getting scratched in the face. There was a lot of random kicking and punching, maybe some biting too. Shouta wasn't sure how he managed to fend off all three of them, but after ten minutes of cursing and screaming, his three classmates eventually spat in his face and ran off away from the park.

"You're a freak, Aizawa! A freak who can only make friends with cats!" Air Boy yelled, sticking out his tongue.

Panting from exhaustion, Shouta winced from scratch marks and bruises, but pushed the feeling of discomfort and aching aside in favor of holding his disoriented animal friend. The black cat was twitching, labored breaths barely managing to escape from its lips. Shouta had no idea what to do. None of the books he read ever talked about dealing with a suffocating cat. He shakily cradled Oreo close to his chest and bit his lip in frustration.

He heard rustling in the bushes again. Shouta instinctively activated his quirk, ready to fend off the bullies a second time.

"Aizawa, are you there?" Shouta twitched from the unusual gentle voice coming from his loud blond classmate. He sees Hizashi pushing a bush aside from the corner of his eye.

"I saw the group of boys who pick on you running by pretty beaten up and I was kind of hoping you did that so…" Hizashi trailed off seeing Shouta's disheveled appearance.

"Hey, are you alright?" Hizashi lamely asked, stretching out an arm to place on Shouta's shaking shoulder.

"Oreo's barely breathing," Shouta answered, holding the cat tighter. He might have been crying based on how distressed Hizashi looked (or maybe it was the fact that he had named the cat "Oreo"), but he could care less. Oreo was going to die and it was all his fault.

"Wait, my sister's a veterinarian. I bet she could help him!" Hizashi suggested, his quirk influencing the volume of his voice. Shouta suddenly felt himself being pulled up and dragged out of the bushes.

"Come on, let's go!" Hizashi urged. "She's probably at home right now. It's not too far from here."

Shouta didn't know if he was ready to trust one of his classmates, even if it was Hizashi, the kind blond kid who stuck up for him more than the teachers did. What did he want from him? There had to be an ulterior motive. But as he heard a faint meow in his arms, Shouta figured that he would deal with the consequences later.

Hizashi lived in a house not far from the park. It took less than five minutes to get there. Hizashi ran into the house calling for his sister while Shouta hugged the cat to his chest, awkwardly waiting at the gate entrance with his shoes still on.

"I thought I told you to stop bringing home sick animals, Hizashi." Shouta heard a female voice echo in the hallway.

"But this is different! My friend needs help. Please, Onee-san!" he heard Hizashi whine.

"And just how is this any different from the time you brought home that cat that threw up all over the carpet?"

"Because, well…" Shouta could hear the hesitation in Hizashi's voice as it lowered to a whisper. "It's 'cause it's Aizawa."

There was a pause followed by a sigh. Hizashi finally returned to the entrance with his sister, his lips pursed tight as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

Shouta tensed as he bowed slightly.

"I'm Aizawa Shouta. It's nice to meet you," he said, careful not to drop the kitten in his arms. He was suddenly very conscious of the fact that he had red marks on his face as well as swollen bruises on his legs.

"It's nice to finally meet you too, Shouta-kun. Hizashi seems to have taken quite an interest in you," Hizashi's sister laughed as she gingerly took Oreo out of Aizawa's arms.

"Onee-san…" Hizashi weakly huffed, crossing his arms and trying to look as menacing as a second grader could (which ended up looking like a cute pout).

Shouta was tempted to ask what she meant by that, but instead chose to stare at their wooden floor boards.

After wrapping up the awkward introduction, Hizashi's sister sent the two kids to the living room with a first aid kit to deal with Shouta's minor injuries. Meanwhile, she locked herself away in her private studies room with the injured cat.

"It's so cool how you beat up those kids all by yourself," Hizashi hummed as he gently placed a bandage on Shouta's face. "That'll teach them to stop messing with you."

Shouta didn't respond. His eyes chose to stare at the carpeted floor instead.

"If you're worried about your cat, you shouldn't be. My sister has a quirk that lets her speak to animals so she's the world's perfect veterinarian!" Hizashi boasted with a smile, his quirk once again influencing his volume.

Shouta wordlessly watched Hizashi return the bandages and cleaning alcohol back into the first aid box.

"Yamada…"

"You can call me Hizashi!"

"Hizashi," Shouta began while picking at a scab on his knee. "Why did you help me?"

He's met with a pair of confused green eyes, eyebrows furrowing to exaggerate his perplexed features.

"What do you mean?" Hizashi asked, clearly thrown off by Shouta's question.

"You don't know me, but you always try to help me. I don't understand," Shouta muttered, swinging his legs back and forth on the edge of the couch he was sitting on.

"Isn't it natural to want to help someone?" Hizashi asked. He scratched the back of his head again as he stared up at the ceiling. "I mean, I wish I could have done more, but I didn't want you to think that I was fighting your battles or something like that. Those guys are real jerks."

Shouta gripped the edge of the couch as he turned away from his blond classmate.

"But don't you think I'm weird?" Shouta muttered. Hizashi would have probably missed that if he hadn't been listening to Shouta so intently.

"I hang out with a cat," Shouta added as if that elaborated on his previous question.

He was met with an extremely warm laugh as Hizashi flashed another one of his bright smiles.

"Aizawa, I think it's cool how you can make friends with cats. All the ones I try to bring home to my sister always seem to hate me. And it's not just cats, but I think it's funny how you can brush off those bullies so easily. You fall asleep two seconds after they mess with you. Anyone else would have lost their temper the moment they even breathed on them. Plus your quirk is super cool. The first time I saw your eyes glow red I got goosebumps!" Hizashi rambled, moving his hands around in the air as his eyes twinkled with excitement.

Shouta could feel his face reddening as Hizashi droned on about how great he was. Another part of him was amazed at how much Hizashi paid attention to him. He suddenly felt guilty for not learning his name sooner, apparently still calling him the "nice blond classmate" just a few days ago.

"Shouta," he quietly interjected, making Hizashi pause mid-sentence. "You can call me Shouta."

Hizashi broke out into an even larger grin as he continued to talk about him using his first name. Shouta could get use to seeing those smiles. It made his chest feel warm.

By the time Hizashi's sister came out, Shouta's curfew was nearing. She assured him that Oreo was going to have a steady recovery and that Shouta was welcome to visit any time he wanted.

So instead of heading to the park, Shouta walked with Hizashi to his place afterschool. This went on for about a week before Hizashi's family officially adopted the cat, gracing it with a yellow collar that had the name "Oreo" neatly printed on the gold tag.

Shouta told himself that his daily visits to Hizashi's place was because he wanted to keep an eye on Oreo, but after spending a week listening to CD's, doing homework and watching movies with Hizashi, he scrapped that thought. Shouta would be the world's worst liar if he said he only went over to visit the black cat.

Inevitably, like Oreo, Hizashi became Shouta's best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

If someone were to describe a young Hizashi, most people would mention how he always seemed to be smiling or laughing. And it was true; Hizashi loved the sounds he would make when he laughed, the way his quirk allowed him to amplify his happiness. But even though he loved the happy echoes or vibrating sounds that would come from him, at a very young age he was very self-conscious about the damaging effects of his quirk. When his parents had sat him down one day and told him about how he needed to be careful with his power, three-year-old Hizashi realized that it was **his** fault that his beloved parents needed hearing aids.

Unfortunately, even with this revelation and new found motivation to learn how to control his voice, managing his quirk didn't come easy. Whenever his emotions got the better of him, which was far more often than he would have liked, Hizashi would find his control slipping. It almost became impossible to control his quirk when he cried.

On one occasion, when Hizashi accidentally dropped his favorite cup while helping his mother wash the dishes, he cried so loudly that he shattered the kitchen window along with a few glass cabinets. After he had managed to calm his crying to sobbing hiccups, Hizashi noticed that his mother's ears were bleeding. Somehow the thing that haunted him the most was that she never berated him, choosing to embrace him in a light hug while telling him she would buy him an even cuter mug when they went shopping tomorrow.

After that incident, Hizashi made a silent promise to himself to always smile. If he didn't cry, he would have a better chance of controlling his quirk, he reasoned. But even little Hizashi knew he couldn't fake it all the time so whenever he needed to cry, he would try to run to the most secluded outside area he could find. With his knees pulled close to his chest and hands covering his mouth, he would muffle his sobs until he could manage a small smile before emerging from his hiding place.

His plan seemed to work, but one night Hizashi overheard his parents talking in hushed voices with one another. He couldn't really make out anything that they were saying, but Hizashi swore that he heard his name mentioned once or twice. He noticed that both parents seemed to be in a state of dishevelment; his father's white dress shirt seemed more wrinkled than usual and his mother's usually brilliant blonde hair appeared less shiny.

Hizashi spent that night rolling around in bed pondering about their secret conversation and somehow concluded that it was because of **him** that they looked so unhappy. He had thought that he had been managing his volume at an acceptable level, but maybe it wasn't enough and now his parents didn't want to take care of him anymore. He had already hurt them to the point where their hearing was beyond repair. Why in the world did they keep him around anyway? When Hizashi couldn't find an answer to that question, he pulled his blanket over his head and tried his very best to fall asleep to quiet his thoughts.

The next day afterschool, as if to confirm his suspicions, Hizashi's parents weren't waiting for him by the school gates. The teacher had told him that they were running late because of traffic, but Hizashi couldn't find it in himself to believe that. He scrubbed at his tearing eyes with the palm of his hand as he slipped past his teacher to go to the back of the school.

Believing that he was alone, Hizashi was ready to let his voice loose. But as he took a turn to get fully behind the building, he immediately held his breath when he spotted another young boy crouching near the bushes, stroking the fur of a cat that visited the school grounds every afternoon.

The two boys stared at each other, blinking like a deer caught in headlights. After five seconds of tense silence, the dark-haired boy clumsily scooped up the cat in his arms. His eyes tentatively shifted, as if looking for an escape route until they slowly turned back to Hizashi.

Hizashi involuntarily let out a sob when the dark-haired boy seemed to stare at his face intently. He hurriedly swiped at his eyes with his sleeve, biting his lip to hold back any sounds that could potentially slip out.

Please leave, you can't be around me right now, he wanted to whisper. But Hizashi didn't trust his voice enough to say anything at the moment. Instead he just shook his head and turned on his heel to find another hiding spot.

Before he could take two steps, he heard a hesitant "w-wait!" coming from the dark-haired boy. Reluctantly turning around, Hizashi found the other boy cautiously walking up to him, carrying the surprisingly docile cat in his small arms. Placing the cat beside them, the dark-haired boy awkwardly stared at Hizashi's tear stricken face, as if debating the best course of action.

After letting out a huff, the boy patted Hizashi on the head.

"Pain, pain, go away."

Hizashi stared at the dark-haired boy in confusion, tears streaming down his face as he gaped at the innocent gesture. Did he… did he think he had fallen and hurt himself? When he didn't respond, the dark-haired boy fidgeted before picking up the cat and placing it in Hizashi's arms.

Too shocked to react, Hizashi stood there cradling the cat in his arms as the dark-haired boy once again patted him on the head, repeating his mantra in a quieter whisper this time, face slightly red.

Hizashi gaped at him for a few seconds before he remembered why he had come behind the building in the first place. His voice came out in a rush, dropping the cat as he covered his mouth in a weak attempt to mask his sobs. He faintly remembered the cat dashing off into a bush and a hand clumsily stroking his hair.

He wasn't sure how long he had cried, but by the time his voice had lowered, Hizashi found himself sitting on the floor with the dark-haired boy still soothingly running his fingers through his hair.

Rubbing at his nose with his sleeve, Hizashi glanced at the boy next to him who was slowly retracting his hand now that he was done crying (for the most part). Hizashi's stomach flipped in guilt, hoping that his voice hadn't damaged this boy's hearing.

"Sorry," Hizashi mumbled.

The dark-haired boy tilted his head to the side and shrugged apathetically.

"Don't be," he simply replied.

He found the dark-haired boy eyeing him curiously. Hizashi hesitated, biting his lower lip as he rubbed his swollen red eyes. He may as well give him an explanation he supposed.

"I can't really control my quirk so I accidentally hurt people. I don't mean to! I really don't! I just… it's hard, but I still hurt them anyway and my parents…!"

Hizashi took a sharp intake of breath. "I think I hurt them the most. I'm so much trouble that they... they probably don't want me anymore," he whispered as he pulled his legs up to his chest, burying his head in his knees. He could feel tears pricking at the corner of his eyes again, his own words stinging more than he thought it would.

"Did they say that to you?" the dark-haired boy asked.

"No, but I think- "

"Then you didn't _actually_ hear them say that," the dark-haired boy huffed. Hizashi peeked at the boy beside him. He appeared agitated, maybe a bit angry.

"I guess not," Hizashi mumbled. "But even if they didn't, what if they really hated me?"

"Just ask them," the dark-haired boy's voice was quiet, if not slightly irritated. "Don't assume things on your own."

As Hizashi was about to reply, he heard his name being called. He hurriedly stood back onto his feet, not wanting an adult to find him hiding behind the school building.

"Sorry, I have to go!" Hizashi said, as he dashed off in the direction of the voice calling his name. He faintly remembered that he never asked for the boy's name, never even thanking him for simply being by his side while he cried.

When he appeared in front of his parents, his swollen red eyes did not go unnoticed. Hizashi's mother dabbed at his face with a handkerchief, worriedly asking why he had been crying. Hizashi remained silent, refusing to answer until they returned home. His parents eyed him expectantly, his mother rubbing his back while his father's calm voice asked if this was a result of bullying.

Eventually, Hizashi quietly admitted finding his parents secretly talking amongst themselves last night, probably discussing how he was a burden because of his quirk and how they didn't want him anymore. His hands clenched his light blue school uniform, twisting it as he awaited them to confirm his fears.

There was a pause before he heard both his parents' baffled voices. His mother quickly explained how they had been discussing about a recent death in the family and whether they should break the news to Hizashi. Even though he hadn't been particularly close to this person, they weren't sure if Hizashi would be old enough to handle the idea of a family member passing away. When they assured him that it had nothing to do with his voice, Hizashi sheepishly muttered a "sorry" as both his parents kissed his forehead, promising that they loved him, quirks and all.

That night, Hizashi stared at his ceiling, replaying the day's scenes in his head. The mysterious dark-haired boy was right after all. He really needed to thank him.

* * *

It turned out that the dark-haired boy didn't go to the same pre-school as Hizashi. So he didn't know his name and he didn't know where to find him. This was just perfect.

Hizashi still took it upon himself to check the back of the school building every day, hoping that the kid would show up again. Unfortunately, the most he ever found was the cat that had been ceremoniously shoved into his arms during their first meeting.

The next time Hizashi saw him was when he entered grade school. After the entrance ceremony, Hizashi ran over to him with his brightest smile, waving his arm enthusiastically. He was met with a pair of tired, apathetic eyes.

Hizashi would never forget the three words that were spoken to him that day.

" _Who are you?"_ the dark-haired boy asked, eventually dismissing a shell-shocked, gaping Hizashi when he didn't respond.

"Y-you helped me when I was crying once! You patted my head and there was a cat and everything!" Hizashi blurted out after recovering from his initial shock. "I wanted to thank you, but you never showed up at my school again!"

"I don't remember anything like that ever happening. You have the wrong person," the dark-haired boy replied, lethargically walking away from a heartbroken Hizashi.

In the end Hizashi never even found out his name until the second grade. (He spent a good year watching the kid from afar, peeking into his classroom whenever he passed by or staring out the window when he saw the kid walking home. He also consistently whined to his parents about his "depressing" situation, complaining about how his "savior" didn't even remember him.)

When his debut as a second grader rolled around, Hizashi found himself sitting in the front of the classroom, nervously tapping his pencil on his desk. As the teacher went through roll call, he found himself fidgeting in his seat, tentatively glancing at the dark-haired boy who was assigned a corner seat in the back.

"Aizawa Shouta?"

"Here," a low voice mumbled.

Aizawa Shouta. His name was Aizawa Shouta. After three years, the mystery boy finally had a name! Hizashi was bouncing up and down in his seat, unable to stop the grin that was spreading like wildfire on his face.

Unfortunately learning his name was all Hizashi ever managed to do for a month. It turned out that Aizawa really enjoyed sleeping, knocking out almost immediately at his desk whenever he had the opportunity. Whenever classes were dismissed, Hizashi would be held up by a few friends, missing his chance to talk to Aizawa during the only time he ever found him awake.

When the fifth week came around, Hizashi slumped into his seat as the class was dismissed for lunch, pouting when he glanced at Aizawa whose head was planted down on his desk.

"My quirk is super strong! Check it out!"

Hizashi caught a glimpse of a group of boys playing with their powers, hearing something about removing air molecules in a certain area.

"You're amazing, Yuta! Your quirk will definitely make you a pro-hero!" one of the kids yelled.

"I can suffocate any villain who tries to attack me so no one can even come close to touching me!" Yuta boasted, smirking as his two other friends cheered him on.

Hizashi sighed, fully ready to tune out his classmates until he heard a derisive snort that was followed by a low whispered "stupid". Whipping his head around, sure enough he found Yuta and his groupies glaring at Aizawa.

"You have a problem with my quirk, Aizawa?" Yuta growled, stomping over to his desk.

Aizawa gave a shrug, closed his eyes and laid his head back down onto his desk.

"Don't you fucking dare ignore me!" Yuta yelled, lifting his arm as he activated his quirk. Hizashi's blood ran cold as he launched himself up from his seat, feeling his stomach flip from anger. What kind of aspiring "hero" would activate his quirk on a civilian, on _**Aizawa**_ nonetheless?

His heated emotions completely dissipated when he saw Aizawa lift his head from his desk, eyes flaring red at his classmate.

"Wha-," Yuta stuttered as he took a step back. Hizashi didn't miss the smug smirk Aizawa had on his face. He couldn't hold back an impressed whistle as he watched Aizawa deactivate his quirk, his hair gently cascading back down onto his shoulders.

"I'm trying to sleep. Don't bother me," he mumbled as he laid his head back onto his desk.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it. When he spotted Yuta gesturing to his two friends to activate their quirks on Aizawa, Hizashi found his voice booming through the entire classroom.

"HEY, THAT'S ENOUGH. LEAVE HIM ALONE." The volume of his own voice not only surprised the group of boys, but it also made Hizashi cringe, stiffening from the fear of hurting someone. He hadn't intended to use his quirk, quickly glancing at the school windows to make sure that they were still intact. The guilt that was slowly surfacing threatened to burst until he saw Aizawa raise his head, his eyes carefully studying him. Aizawa eventually gave a huff of gratitude and a short nod in his direction before dropping his head back down onto his desk.

Hizashi was practically glowing for the rest of the day. During dinner time, he spent the entire night talking about how "cool" Aizawa was to his family.

Aizawa had finally acknowledged him. He had willingly initiated a nonverbal gesture in _his_ direction. Hizashi never felt more accomplished.

* * *

Hizashi's parents encouraged him to just talk to Aizawa, start small and build up from there. He certainly had an excuse now that they were in the same class. But despite being someone who could talk for hours on any topic no matter how obscure, Hizashi couldn't figure out how to keep Aizawa interested enough to give him more than five seconds of his time.

Even a simple "hi" would go ignored. Hizashi would count himself lucky if Aizawa even scowled at him, but he couldn't blame him. Yuta and his friends had made it their objective to bully Aizawa and since he refused to pay them any attention, it only fueled their obnoxious behavior. Aizawa appeared apathetic, but Hizashi could see his agitation from the way his eyebrows furrowed more than usual or how his shoulders were more hunched and tensed.

Hizashi wanted to step in, punch the lights out of the boys for taking advantage of Aizawa's quiet nature. In fact, Hizashi _had_ tried to pick a fight with those three, but after coming home with a swollen eye and a bloody nose along with being grounded for two weeks, he deducted that duking it out wasn't his best option.

If he wasn't strong enough to help in the frontlines, Hizashi reasoned that he could at least help from the background. He figured that Aizawa wouldn't appreciate a stranger waltzing in on his problems (despite Hizashi counting their first fond meeting as something that "solidified" their friendship). So instead, he made an extra effort to keep a watchful eye out for Yuta and his gang, going as far as to even come to school earlier to allow him enough time to prepare counter measures.

From digging Aizawa's shoes out of the trash to packing extra cookies to share, Hizashi tried his best to make his classmate's days just a little bit easier. In fact, Hizashi even followed Aizawa to the playground afterschool from time to time whenever he saw the group of bullies trailing behind him. And that's how he discovered Aizawa's secret friendship with a stray black kitten.

Ever since he saw him reading cat books instead of napping, he figured Aizawa had made a friend and it wasn't like Hizashi was jealous or anything. He just wanted to protect what Aizawa wanted to protect. It _definitely_ had nothing to do with him envying the attention and friendship Aizawa chose to give to a black cat. He was just keeping an eye out for Oreo (a name that he did not find cute in anyway)he would tell himself with a pout.

* * *

Hizashi noticed that Aizawa didn't make his daily visits to the park during rainy days. During one rainy weekend, Hizashi decided to check up on the cat, dawning on his favorite yellow raincoat and rainboots as well as pocketing some leftover fish from dinner in a bag just in case it was hungry. After searching around the park, he found Oreo taking cover in a makeshift cardboard box, shivering and sneezing excessively. When the cat refused to eat the leftover fish, Hizashi began to panic. Against his better judgement, he awkwardly picked up the cat, and ran home to his sister hoping that she could help Aizawa's friend.

By the time he had made it through the front door, Hizashi was soaking wet and had various scratch and bite marks littered all over his arms. He even accidentally dropped Oreo, giving the cat a chance to dash under the couch. It took about an hour before Hizashi managed to coax it out (not without more scratching and biting). When Hizashi's sister returned home, she found her little brother cradling a worn-out cat, while trying to hide a vomit stain on the living room carpet.

Hizashi was glad that it rained throughout the entire time it took the cat to recover. He released Oreo back into the park the moment the sun came back out.

When he noticed Aizawa curiously eyeing the scratch marks on his arms the next day during P.E., Hizashi wore baggy sweatshirts for two weeks straight despite the humid weather.

* * *

It had been two months, two weeks and four days since the start of the school year and in that span of two months, two weeks and four days Hizashi hadn't gotten more than a few noncommittal grunts from Aizawa. He was starting to wonder if working in the background was really such a good idea.

He mulled over his dilemma as he walked towards the park, wondering if he should just ask Aizawa to play with him. Maybe he'd want to play Heroes vs. Villains with him. All the kids at school seemed to love it so maybe Aizawa wouldn't ignore him if he suggested a fun game to play.

"It's worth a shot," Hizashi muttered to himself as he neared the playground.

" _You're a freak, Aizawa! A freak who can only make friends with cats!"_

Hizashi blinked as Yuta and his two friends ran past him, cursing with words that Hizashi had never even heard of. The three were disheveled, sporting impressive bloody noses and colorful bruises. He couldn't help but smirk, snickering at their unruliness. There was no doubt in his mind that Aizawa finally gave those three boys what they deserved. Not only was Hizashi proud of Aizawa for standing up for himself, but he was also swelling with pride for his classmate who had managed to singlehandedly kick the butts of _three_ (obnoxious) kids.

Hizashi practically skipped over to Aizawa's little hiding spot in the bushes. His brilliant smile fell when he was greeted by a pair of red eyes. Even though his classmate seemed to be in better shape than the three bullies, Hizashi couldn't help but grit his teeth in agitation when he caught a glimpse of the many bruises and scrapes on the dark-haired boy.

 _I'm going to kick their asses!_

 _How dare they do this to you!_

"Hey, are you alright?" Hizashi settled on saying, willing his anger to subside as he laid his hand on Aizawa's trembling shoulder.

"Oreo's barely breathing," Aizawa mumbled while holding the cat in his arms a little tighter.

"I meant you, not your cat," Hizashi muttered while staring daggers at the black kitten before lighting up again. "Wait, my sister's a veterinarian. I bet she could help him!"

Lightly tugging on the sleeve of Aizawa's shirt, Hizashi began pulling him out of the bushes.

"Come on, let's go! She's probably at home right now. It's not too far from here," he said, trying his best to lower the volume of his voice. Hizashi could feel Aizawa dragging his feet, mouth drawn in a thin line and eyes shifting between him and the cat in his arms. Aizawa trailed behind Hizashi quietly throughout the entire walk. (Honestly, Hizashi had expected him to sneak away from him during the five minutes that it took them to get to his place. He was secretly ecstatic and _maybe_ bouncing on his heels when Aizawa was still behind him when he opened the front gates.)

Kicking his shoes aside, Hizashi ran into the house calling for his sister. He was met with a very unimpressed look. It seemed like even his puppy dog eyes wouldn't work this time, especially since they were right next to the vomit stain the exact same cat had made two weeks ago. So Hizashi had no choice but to break out the "Aizawa" card. It was a risky play; his sister was intrigued with her little brother's obsession, but despite her taking his side, she also loved to tease him for it.

But the situation called for desperate measures and lucky for Hizashi, the only teasing hint she gave was when she winked while handing him the first aid box, shoving the two kids into the living room together.

The moment the two of them had settled on the couch, Hizashi suddenly felt nervous sitting beside Aizawa in silence. It was strange. Hizashi rarely felt nervous about _anything._ (Well, except maybe when he has to walk past a butterfly that's lounging on a flower near the doorway. Those mornings were always so stressful.)

As he rummaged through the first aid box, biting his lower lip in concentration, he peeked at Aizawa from the corner of his eye. Aizawa seemed to be fixated on the carpet. His hands were gripping the edge of the couch, fingers leaving imprints on the soft cushion. When Hizashi noticed how uncomfortable his classmate was, suddenly his own nervousness became a secondary problem. So Hizashi did what he did best. He talked.

"It's so cool how you beat up those kids all by yourself," Hizashi said with a smile as he smoothed out a bandage on Aizawa's face, screaming internally when the dark-haired boy flinched at his touch. "That'll teach them to stop messing with you."

No response.

"If you're worried about your cat, you shouldn't be," he continued. "My sister has a quirk that lets her speak to animals so she's the world's perfect veterinarian!"

When silence continued to fill the room, Hizashi laughed nervously, scratching his face in embarrassment. He turned his attention to organizing the first aid box, meticulously arranging the items in fake concentration. Aizawa's gaze was now on him and if Hizashi hadn't seen his quirk in action before he would have assumed his power involved shooting laser beams out of his eyes because dear god Hizashi could swear that there were holes forming in the back of his head.

"Yamada…"

Hizashi perked up from the sound of his name. He shouldn't feel as happy as he did. It was just his name, he told himself. Regardless, he couldn't stop the tooth grinning smile.

"Hizashi!" he blurted out. "You can call me Hizashi!"

"Hizashi," Aizawa mumbled. "Why did you help me?"

The smile suddenly disappeared from Hizashi's face. Oh shit, had he meddled too much? Hizashi thought that his work in the background had been subtle. But maybe it wasn't subtle enough, and now Aizawa wanted him to start minding his own business.

"What do you mean?" Hizashi asked, hoping that his thoughts were completely off base.

"You don't know me, but you always try to help me," Aizawa muttered, eyebrows furrowing as if trying to decipher an impossible coded message. "I don't understand."

"Isn't it natural to want to help someone?" Hizashi retorted, scratching the back of his head. He fought back the urge to tell him that he actually knew him a little _too_ well.

"I mean, I wish I could have done more, but I didn't want to think that I was fighting your battles or something like that!" Hizashi continued, feeling his stomach flip as he thought about the months of bullying his classmate had to endure.

"Those guys are real jerks," he muttered, staring angrily at the organized first aid box.

"But don't you think I'm weird?"

There was a pause.

"Huh?" Hizashi turned to face Aizawa, nose slightly wrinkled in confusion. Weird? _Aizawa?_ That was one of the _last_ words Hizashi would use to describe him. Endearing, quiet, honest, cool. Those were the right words to use.

"I hang out with a cat," Aizawa tacked on, frowning in frustration when he didn't receive a response.

Another pause.

Hizashi couldn't stop the bubbly laugh that escaped from his mouth. Usually he'd be worried about the volume of his voice, but right now the warmth that was building in his stomach made him too happy to care. Plus, Aizawa's face was slightly red. That was an added bonus.

"Aizawa, I think it's cool how you can make friends with cats!" the blond exclaimed. Hizashi began to ramble. He listed off all of the things he admired about him, flailing his arms in exaggerated excitement. Hizashi could talk about anything for hours, but right now with all the practice he's had talking to his family, he'd take at least a week to finish if the subject was _Aizawa_.

Hizashi's eyes never left his classmate's face, studying the subtle changes. Its hardened features suddenly softened. A confused frown followed and within a few minutes his face was entirely red. Aizawa tried to hide his face behind his bangs, but the embarrassed small smile that was in plain view was all Hizashi needed to keep talking.

"Shouta," Aizawa murmured.

Hizashi immediately stopped talking about how they should go down to the library sometime together so that he could show Aizawa a neat book he found about tigers.

"You can call me Shouta," he said.

He might have been gaping at Aizawa based on how much he was fidgeting under his gaze.

"I mean, if you want to," he said while picking at a small tear in his shirt.

Hizashi wanted to scream. He tried his best to contain his excitement, but the smile that was slowly growing felt like it was going to split his face in two.

And so Hizashi started talking about how _Shouta_ should go to the pet store with him one day to pet cats and stare at birds. He told _Shouta_ how they could play all kinds of games together, just the three of them; him, _Shouta_ , and Oreo. _Shouta_ could even come over to his place to listen to his CD collection.

Hizashi may as well have been a broken record. If anyone had counted, he probably had used _Shouta's_ name 87 times in the hour he spent talking about his _friend Shouta_.

Unfortunately, Hizashi's magical moment with Shouta came to an end when his sister came out of her private studies room. Hizashi couldn't help but pout a little when Shouta asked if he could see Oreo. But when the three of them went to see the now sleeping cat, Hizashi's small bout of jealousy quickly dissipated when he saw the relief that washed over his new friend's face.

After knowing that the cat was going to recover, Shouta excused himself, telling them that his curfew was nearing. The two walked him to the front gate.

As Shouta thanked Hizashi's sister for her help and hospitality, Hizashi began twisting his shirt, a nervous tick that he hadn't grown out of.

"Hey, Shouta. If you want, you could come visit afterschool," Hizashi said, gripping his shirt a little tighter. "You know, so that you can make sure Oreo's okay."

Shouta stared at the blond, studying his classmate carefully.

"Okay," he said with a nod.

Hizashi grinned, nodding his head vigorously in confirmation.

"Thanks," Shouta hesitated for a second before adding "Hizashi."

Hizashi didn't care if his sister was laughing at him. He didn't care if his voice was too loud. He didn't care that he was setting off car alarms. He didn't care that Shouta was only ten feet away. Taking in a deep breath, Hizashi yelled.

" **BYE, SHOUTA. SEE YOU TOMORROW!"**

The small wave Shouta gave to him was worth it.


End file.
